ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 provides the background to the corporate environment in Tanzania. It addresses the rise of corporate governance by looking at the corporate environment in Tanzania between 1967 and 2015. The chapter highlights the importance of understanding corporate governance challenges faced by public entities in Tanzania from a socio-historical context, bearing in mind the respective evolving policy environments. From the very beginning, it updates the situation to the most recent experiences of corporate governance and sets the framework for addressing the central question via discussions of ethics and accountability, corporate failures as well as governance and economic management. From business ethics to corporate social responsibility to confronting business matters as a moral issue, the chapter introduces the route taken by corporate Tanzania through corporate governance – ethics milestones, notably the Arusha Declaration and what ensued after its demise, to the most recent events and the future.
